You want me to take out a loan to practice cultivation? I'll just pay off the debt physically.

Chapter 117 Why Did His Majesty Plot a Rebellion? (5k)

In June of the 133rd year of the Extraordinary Calendar, with the help of the Emperor of the White Eagle Empire—a top-level traitor—the Red Heart Society's counter-encirclement operation against the White Eagle Empire's planned sneak attack achieved unprecedented success.

In a short time, the White Eagle Empire's army suffered heavy losses.

The promise made by the White Eagle Empire general to bring all White Eagle soldiers home next year on Mother's Day is, in a sense, about to come true.

After all, the army was decimated, making it completely unnecessary for them to remain in the federal center.

However, in the current White Eagle Empire army, wounded and maimed soldiers are everywhere, and a sense of despondency and decadence permeates the surroundings.

No one knows whether tomorrow or death will come first.

[The Allied Forces clearly possess superior military strength, more advanced weaponry, and even a far greater number of high-ranking professionals within their armies and warbands than the Red Heart Society.]

But why did it turn out like this?

Who exactly is that damned high-ranking traitor?

[Nobody's stupid. After this crushing defeat, everyone knows that the high-ranking traitor came from within the White Eagle Empire's army.]

[Those hypocritical generals of the White Eagle Empire, those arrogant commanders, and those bragging scions of noble families who claimed they would crush the Red Heart Society in five months.]

[Among them, there may be one or more traitors.]

The lower-ranking soldiers didn't understand. If the higher-ups and the Red Heart Society had such a good relationship—to the point of readily selling strategic information—why come to support the Federation?

What is the significance?

What did they gain by sacrificing their lives?

Are their lives really that worthless?

[In the eyes of those important figures, it's not even as precious as the foxtail grass next to it, is it?]

[Amidst this depressed and violent mood, several mutinies broke out within the White Eagle Empire's army in just a few hours.]

Furthermore, a general from the White Eagle Empire and more than a dozen scions of noble families were chopped into pieces by the bloodthirsty soldiers of the White Eagle Empire.

Even though they were equipped with various protective gear, the White Eagle Empire soldiers were all armed with high-precision military weapons, and were followed by a strike force of large-scale military equipment.

Under the impact of such high-precision military strikes, high-ranking officers who were slow to react were instantly killed.

[These military vehicles, under the careful protection of the Red Heart Society, may not have displayed much power, but during the mutiny in the military camp, their terrifying power was fully revealed.]

The Federal Central Army, seeing the enraged remnants of the White Eagle Empire's army, dared not rashly send troops to provide support.

[If not handled properly, this could trigger internal strife!]

Meanwhile, the Emperor of the White Eagle Empire, who had prepared in advance, launched a domestic propaganda offensive.

Large-scale demonstrations began to appear on the streets of the White Eagle Empire, with crowds protesting against the war and advocating resistance against it.

[Especially the families of the soldiers on the front lines, who were heartbroken upon hearing of the devastating defeat.]

They worried about the danger their families might face on the battlefield, and even more so, they feared for their lives.

So one by one, they spontaneously took to the streets, joining the anti-war movement and pressuring the White Eagle Empire to withdraw its troops.

However, some observant professionals noticed that a certain group of people in the march always stood ramrod straight, acted decisively, and moved with remarkable order, giving them the appearance of elite imperial soldiers.

Ultimately, amidst escalating public opinion within the White Eagle Empire, the Emperor issued an immediate retreat order to the troops stationed at the front lines!

The White Eagle Empire suffered a crushing defeat, with losses to its army, a decline in national strength, and a loss of prestige worldwide. Someone must bear the consequences of all this.

Under normal circumstances, if the top families of the White Eagle Empire unite and devise a scapegoat plan, as long as it's plausible and can fool public opinion, the White Eagle Emperor usually won't take it too seriously.

[After all, those who died this time were troops and warbands controlled by powerful families. As long as the powerful families don't care, the White Eagle Empire's royal family doesn't really care.]

But this time, the situation is different!

To consolidate his imperial power, the White Eagle Emperor had already raised his butcher's knife.

Everything hinges on the return of the patriarchs and elders of these top-tier families to the capital.

As expected, upon their return, the Imperial Guard, belonging to the White Eagle royal family, immediately detained all high-ranking officers. The remaining troops were then taken over and reorganized into the army directly controlled by the White Eagle Emperor.

By the time these powerful families realized what was happening, they had already been imprisoned.

Once inside the prison, against the backdrop of the cold iron bars, a bold conjecture surfaced in the minds of all the aristocratic family heads.

The reason the Allied Forces suffered such a crushing defeat, and why the Red Heart Society was so well-informed about all of the Allied Forces' decisions, was because of the traitor, the White Eagle Emperor!

【His Majesty! 】

Why would you lower yourself to act as a traitor within the Red Heart Society?

If you wish to consolidate imperial power, you are welcome to speak with us, and we can sit down and discuss the matter.

Why did you waste your national strength and make such a fuss when you could have resolved this peacefully?

When this idea from the aristocratic families reached the ears of the White Eagle Emperor, he merely scoffed.

The reason why the aristocratic families were willing to yield, believing that consolidating imperial power could be achieved through verbal persuasion, was because the White Eagle royal family had already placed their butcher's knife against their heads.

They bowed their heads, not because they thought the White Eagle Emperor was supreme, but because they knew they were about to die!

Back when the powerful families were at their peak, the attitudes of these family heads were quite different.

Half of the officials in the imperial court are from aristocratic families!

Every time the White Eagle royal family raises an opinion, these aristocratic families invoke their ancestral laws to oppose it.

If he doesn't take advantage of the current weakened state of the aristocratic families to strengthen imperial power, once these families realize their mistake, it will inevitably lead to another war between the imperial family and the aristocratic families!

Therefore, this time, no matter who pleads for leniency, it will be rejected!

This time, the reasons are quite compelling!

The White Eagle Clan intervened in the Federal Civil War, disregarding the lives of White Eagle soldiers and causing such enormous losses!

[The deaths of hundreds of thousands of White Eagle soldiers!]

The disintegration of the eighteen White Eagle title battle groups!

Such losses have shaken the very foundations of the White Eagle Empire!

Therefore, no amount of pleading could change anything. When his crown prince appeared before the White Eagle Emperor, holding the ancestral precept of sharing power between the imperial family and aristocratic families, the emperor was utterly bewildered.

As the Crown Prince of the White Eagle Royal Family and the future heir to the White Eagle Empire, can't you see through the intricacies of this situation?

Are they still speaking up for the aristocratic families?

The Crown Prince's behavior further fueled the White Eagle Emperor's anxiety about the future.

[Having consolidated imperial power through scheming against the army and powerful families, even at the cost of severely weakening the nation, to cut off the powerful families' reach towards the throne, wouldn't his crown prince later decide that the powerful families are reliable and return power to them?]

Thinking of this, the White Eagle Emperor's eyes darkened, his gloomy gaze fixed on the Crown Prince kneeling below, begging him to retract his order.

Perhaps the successor I've been grooming for so many years isn't up to the task.

However, no one can stop him from consolidating imperial power!

Even his mother wouldn't do!

[While the White Eagle Emperor wielded his butcher's knife, slaughtering countless heads from the top families, you quietly removed their personal communications from your contacts.]

The other party is the Emperor of the White Eagle Empire, the supreme ruler.

And you, are the founder of the Red Heart Society.

[Perhaps your personal relationship is quite good, especially the relationship forged through numerous stock market speculations and global successes, making it arguably stronger than most relationships in the world.]

This time, the Red Heart Society achieved a resounding victory thanks to intelligence leaks from the White Eagle Emperor.

[While you two are friends, you are also rulers in your respective countries.]

Leaders can no longer be viewed as simple individuals.

[Your perspective is always determined by your own position!]

If it's beneficial, then both sides benefit.

If interests clash, both sides will instantly become adversaries who stab each other in the back.

Great power rivalry will never be influenced by personal feelings.

Those in power who can be influenced usually don't end up well.

[So you know very well that from the moment the White Eagle Emperor successfully consolidated imperial power, the next time you two meet, you could be enemies.]

In July of the 133rd year of the Extraordinary Calendar, after the White Eagle Empire's army withdrew, the Crimson Heart Army advanced triumphantly.

Within half a month, they had completely recovered the five surrounding provinces.

Meanwhile, the cavalry, mage, and assassin regiments supported by the Winter Empire, under the Winter Emperor's orders, departed from the Federation center and concentrated their forces to attack the Winter Defense Line.

[Even the Frost Empire, in an attempt to seize the opportunity to retake the Frostline, disregarded all martial ethics and dispatched four ninth-tier professionals to attack the Frostline.]

Fortunately, the old general arrived in time, and with the assistance of three wearers of the Crimson Heart Armor, the Winter Defense Line barely managed to hold off the Winter Empire's ferocious attack. [In the same month, two ninth-rank professionals from the Sunset Empire attacked the newly completed Eastern Border Defense Line.]

Upon hearing the news, Sword Elder rushed off, blocking the Nine-Turn Swordsman of the Sunset Empire from entering.

However, this means you'll no longer have any ninth-tier professionals protecting you.

[Without any hesitation, the Qin family patriarch and another aristocratic family patriarch flew out from the Federation Center and launched a fierce attack on you from a distance.]

[However, they underestimated the strength of the Crimson Heart Battle Group. The four key points of the Crimson Heart Battle Formation were protected by Rank 8 professionals wearing Crimson Heart armor.]

[You could say you're quite experienced in assassinating ninth-level professionals.]

The combined attack of the Crimson Heart Battle Group may have touched upon the level of the Ninth Rank, but killing a Ninth Rank professional is far from feasible.

Therefore, only by employing extreme defense to instill despair in the opponent, and then luring them to use their soul domain to draw out the will within you.

No ninth-tier professional could withstand this combo.

Even a level 98 Lava Demon couldn't withstand it; if it weren't for the blessing of the Abyss's Will, he would likely have perished.

However, those who reach the ninth level of cultivation were once the chosen ones, the most shrewd of all.

Therefore, you need to act more convincingly.

Thus, under the relentless attacks of the two Rank 9 Federation members, the Red Heart Battle Group's defenses remained as solid as a rock.

This situation inevitably led the two men with the nine-turn sword to start thinking crookedly.

[In August of the 133rd year of the Extraordinary Era, the Qin family patriarch used his soul domain to draw your soul here.]

[When you sense anything, immediately crush the wisp of will left behind by the old general.]

[Then, guided by the old man's will, you break free from his soul's realm and return to reality.]

[In September of the 133rd year of the Extraordinary Calendar, you received a message from Elder Jun and Elder Jian, stating that the attacks on them by the Winter Empire and the Sunset Empire had become even more ferocious.]

Something unusual is definitely going on!

[You must be extremely careful, as they are completely tied down and unable to use any means necessary!]

【remember!】

You are the most important person in the Red Heart Society, the foundation upon which this vast organization exists!

If you fall, the once-great situation of Chixin Society will likely collapse instantly.

[In November of the 133rd year of the Extraordinary Calendar, you used yourself for fishing; of course, you must have the necessary precautions.]

[Even the Red Heart Battle Group around me has raised its defense level to an even higher level than before.]

Only in this way can you truly catch a big fish.

Otherwise, how could a obviously fake trap possibly kill a level-nine professional?

After all, your true purpose is to have those two simultaneously release their soul domains, drawing your soul into them.

Last time, you used a wisp of the old soldier's will.

With both Elder Jun and Elder Jian engaged, you most likely only have a wisp of Elder Jian's will left.

Therefore, only by having two Nine-Turn Realm experts attack simultaneously can you be truly obliterated from the soul level!

[While leading the Crimson Heart Battle Group on their third expedition to observe the Starlight Secret Realm, two Federation Ninth-Rank cultivators suddenly appeared.]

Without any hesitation, they immediately activated their soul domains.

Only attacks extending from the soul realm can penetrate the Red Heart Battle Group's defenses and directly annihilate your soul.

Everything else will be blocked by the Red Heart Battle Group's tortoise shell.

As expected, under the overwhelming backlash of overwhelming human will, the two ninth-level cultivators died on the spot.

When this news broke, the world was shocked!

[Your Crimson Heart Battle Group actually possesses the power to annihilate a Ninth-Rank cultivator?]

The world was shaken.

[In December of the 133rd year of the Extraordinary Calendar, just as you were about to launch a final offensive against the Federation's center after recapturing the last province of the Federation, an anomaly was detected on the eastern border defense line.]

A surge of abyssal demonic energy emanated from the Sunset Empire, and beneath this swirling aura, neatly arranged abyssal tribes came into the Crimson Heart Army's view.

Behind the Abyss Tribe army, half-human, half-monster Sunset Empire warriors hid, their crimson eyes gleaming with a thirst for slaughter and flesh.

The moment you received this news, you couldn't help but swear.

According to intelligence gathered by the White Eagle Emperor in the previous era, all of the Sunset Empire's Abyss Laboratories are located in the core area of ​​the imperial capital.

After all, the Sunset Empire knew that the Abyss Experiments could not be exposed, otherwise they might face attacks from all over the world.

Therefore, they hid it in the heart of Sunset Capital.

To make room for the Abyss Laboratory, even members of the Sunset Royal Family moved away from their royal residence under the pretext of vacationing and seeking medical treatment.

This is also why the Red Heart Society deployed two forbidden weapons to Sunset Capital, turning the city into a scene of utter chaos.

[But when a large number of Abyss armies appear before you, you know that the Sunset Empire has been continuing this Abyss experiment that will attract the projected will of the Abyss.]

Even under the terrifying external pressure posed by the Red Heart Society, the Sunset Empire conducted an unprecedentedly large-scale abyss experiment.

[It has only been 133 years, yet such an abyssal army has already been created.]

Although this army of abyssal monsters is not strong, you understand very well what it represents.

[The Sunset Empire, truly a leopard can't change its spots!]

[Therefore, you published an article in the world about the abyss's projected will invading the world.]

Although you haven't studied the projected will of the Abyss, and you don't know much about the Abyss itself.

[No one in this world understands better than you the point that the Abyss Experiment could elicit the projected will of the Abyss.]

After all, you've experienced more of these things than they have.

[As expected, shortly after you published this article, personal communications from the White Eagle Emperor, the Winter Emperor, the Peacock Emperor, and the Secretary-General of the United States poured in.]

After you learned the seriousness of the matter from him, even the most unreliable Peacock Emperor fell into a long silence.

But even if they knew, the world situation would remain unchanged.

The Winter Empire continues to mobilize its entire national strength to maintain its Frostline defenses. Faced with that terrifying firepower, the Frostline defenses, once hailed as the world's most formidable, are on the verge of collapse.

[In other words, the fighting spirit of the Red Heart Army soldiers is unparalleled in the world; otherwise, given the persistently high mortality rate during this period, the morale of this army would probably have collapsed long ago.]

Meanwhile, the White Eagle Empire is still consolidating its internal affairs and shows no signs of launching a military intervention.

[Even at the Federation's strong invitation, the Mauryan Empire once again dispatched an expeditionary force of two million, claiming it was to regain the face it had lost!]

The eight kingdoms to the west of the Federation, having received promises of forbidden military benefits from the Qin family, dispatched a joint army to the Federation's central city.

All nations seem to have ignored the dangers of the Sunset Empire's abyssal experiments.

[Meanwhile, the Second Anti-Red Heart Alliance quietly formed at this critical moment when the time should have been spent attacking the Sunset Empire and even destroying its Abyss Laboratory.]

Your words cannot serve as direct evidence for the rulers of any country.

As an enemy of the Red Heart Society, you are very likely deceiving them.

Even if what you say is true, and the Abyss projection does descend and the Abyss army invades, that's still the future!

Let's talk about the future when it comes!

[If we don't safeguard our current national interests and quickly enhance our national military strength, we'll perish even without the invasion of the Abyss Army in today's chaotic world situation.]

[Of course, following your reminder, various countries have established observation organizations within their borders to monitor the projected will of the abyss.]

[But there are also some outrageous countries, such as the Mauryan Empire, which finds the hybrid of humans and the abyss researched by the Sunset Empire very interesting, especially since it can mobilize abyssal tribes as an army. This is even more interesting.]

[Within the Peacock Empire lies a tribe of domesticated abyssal lizards. If possible, they wish to combine humans with abyssal lizards, perhaps thus creating a second human race for the Peacock Empire.]

[At that time, the birth rate may be even higher, and it's even possible that half-human, half-lizard beast-like professionals will emerge.]

In March of the 134th year of the Extraordinary Calendar, the Crimson Heart Army launched two special military weapons without any radiation towards the Abyss Army of the Sunset Empire.

In an instant, flames exploded, and the sun rose again!

When the flames died down, only a handful of the once-mighty abyssal army remained.

Just as the Red Heart Army was preparing to advance unimpeded, a large amount of demonic energy emerged from the void in the surrounding area.

The abyssal creatures destroyed by special military weapons seem to be drawn together by some unseen force.

As the demonic energy condensed to a certain concentration, a series of tearing, clashing sounds echoed from the void, reverberating around them.

The next moment, a colossal abyssal portal, constructed of chains encircling it, began to materialize from the void!

(End of this chapter)